13 Things You Need to Reach Your Money Goals (Hint: It’s Not Money)

What do you want your life to look like? What would life be like if you were debt free? What if you didn’t have to work for money? Where do you want to be 10 years from now?

When you have a vision of what life could be like when you reach your financial goals, you can begin to figure out how to get there. And though formulating a plan for reaching those goals is a big step in the right direction, it’s still only a piece of the puzzle.

Having a goal is not enough. You have to get your thinking right. You have to really want it and you have to actually believe that you can get it.You have to stick with it, do the hard work and be willing to change direction. You have to pick yourself up after you fall. And you have to have patience.

Though money itself plays a role in your success, whether or not your reach your financial goals has more to do with your mindset than it does with the actual numbers.

13 Things You Need to Reach Your Money Goals

1. Know why you want it

Why do you want to reach your goal? You have to have a reason, an inspiration, a motivation to really want it. Your “why” will keep you going when the going gets rough and will provide the incentive and direction you need along the way.

2. Recognize the excuses

Excuses emerge when our mind tells us what we are thinking about doing could be uncomfortable. And we don’t like discomfort. But, here’s the thing, change is rarely comfortable, at least not at first. In order to make real progress, we have to do the things that are uncomfortable. So recognize the excuses for what they are – just your mind trying to tell you there may be some discomfort ahead.

3. Believe that you can do it

If you doubt your ability to accomplish your goal, you’ve set your goal in vain. Shifting your mindset from one of “I can’t” to “I can’t YET” and changing the inner voice of doubt is crucial.

Use others as motivation if you need to. Find inspirational stories of people who have accomplished a goal similar to yours. Study them. Take that knowledge and apply it to yourself. You can do it.

4. Be willing to listen and learn

You don’t have all of the answers within you. Take the initiative to learn that which you do not know, whether it be from people you know, books, videos, blogs, podcasts or professionals. Listen to people who have done what you want to do and decipher what works for you and what doesn’t. Fill in the knowledge gaps as you go.

5. Make a plan

Without a map, you’ll never reach your destination. Have a detailed plan stating the steps you will take to get to your goal. Don’t just say you have a goal, write it down with details on how you plan to do it – I know, it sounds hokey, but it works.

An important part of your plan should create accountability. Report your progress to someone on a regular basis (have a goal buddy) or make it public.

6. Commit 100%

Don’t do this because you think you “should”. Do it because you want it and commit to it 100%. Leave no doubt and no way out. You are going to do this. No days off, no excuses – you are 100% in!

If you give in to “just this once,” based on a marginal-cost analysis, you’ll regret where you end up. That’s the lesson I learned: it’s easier to hold to your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold to them 98 percent of the time. The boundary—your personal moral line—is powerful because you don’t cross it; if you have justified doing it once, there’s nothing to stop you doing it again.” -Clayton Christensen

7. Start today

Procrastination is the enemy of success. It is never the “right time” to start anything. Even if it’s just something as small as writing down your goal, start doing something today. And then every day after that. Even if it’s just 15 minutes, do something, no matter how small, each day to work toward your goal.

8. Do the hard work

Change is never easy. Now that you’ve decided what you really want and what you have to do to get there, you have to actually take action. Even if it’s just small things each day, do the work. Nothing will change without the hard work.

If you have trouble doing the hard work, use the 5 minute rule. Do the work you need to do for just 5 minutes. At the end of the 5 minutes, you can step away and come back later, or you can continue on. Most of the time, you’ll find you’re ready to continue working!

9. Stay positive

You’ll have days where you think you just can’t do it. You’ll have people in your life that will tell you you can’t do it. Recognize the skepticism, smile, practice gratitude and ditch the negativity. This may mean ignoring or distancing yourself from negative influences and people in your life.

10. Stick it out

A little prep and planning can go a long way, but obstacles are sure to get in your way. Be prepared to ask yourself “how” you will get past those roadblocks and keep going. Ask “How can I get past this?” to come up with solutions.

11. Recognize the small wins

You may have one big goal that you want to reach, but you won’t get there in one fell swoop. It’s the small steps that will get you there. Those little victories along the way provide momentum you need to keep going. Focus on the small wins to make the overarching goal feel more actionable.

12. Don’t let mistakes stop you

Mistakes don’t mean you failed, they’re simply lessons. Rather than letting mistakes own you, own your mistakes. Learn the lesson, leave the mistakes in the past and keep moving forward with your newfound knowledge.

13. Be patient.

We have a tendency to always want to be 10 steps ahead of where we are. It’s okay if you don’t reach your goal at breakneck speed. The important thing is to keep going, no matter how slowly.*

Making a big change in your life requires more than just a goal. These 13 things will help you make big changes and put you on the path to successfully reaching your goal.

*It took my family almost a decade to pay off student loans and consumer debt, but we did it and enjoyed life’s journey along the way.

How has your mindset impacted your financial goals? How do you keep motivated when the road seems long?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

Great list Amanda! I agree with you on every point here and think I used just about every point here without even knowing it when I was paying off my student loan debt. Especially agree with knowing you “why.” It’s tough enough to reach your goals but definitely helps when you have a reason in mind for what you are doing.

Thank you! Keeping that reason “why” you have the goal in the first place is so important. Otherwise, a goal is just something you think you “should” do, which isn’t motivating enough to really keep going through the tough times.

Patience can trump just about any other emotion, so I’m a big fan of making patience a part of your financial plan. Even if it seems like you are fighting a huge battle ($100k of student loans….) patience can really help. Time passes. As long as you are making payments, it will eventually be $0 of debt. It’s important to keep that in mind.

Mindset is so important when it comes to wealth-building. Without the right mindset, you’ll never recover from a misstep, and you’ll never follow through on your goals unless you’re under some form of external durress.

As I was reading this I was working to find one that I liked best, and I couldn’t! They’re all SO important. When we get discouraged on our long journey, often times we’ll rework the numbers for motivation, and we’ll find a way to dump the debt faster. Also, taking one little extra step each day helps. Find lower car insurance. balance transfer cc debt if it makes sense. Awesome post, Amanda!

Thank you, Laurie! Re-working the numbers is huge when you feel stuck! You guys are always so great at getting creative in finding ways to lower your debt amount and getting the whole family on board. You’re an inspiration.

In terms of making a difference in our day-to-day living, mindset is HUGE. People certainly have different privileges, but we can ALL influence our mindsets. Really important reminders that money isn’t everything!

Yes! It’s important to remember we all have choices when it comes to our mindsets! It’s not always easy to change them, but people have proven over and over again that it can be done (and great things can be accomplished!).

Great list Amanda! Changing our mindset with our money was our biggest hurdle. It takes time to break bad habits that have been formed over years. The math piece of personal finance is easy, the mental part not so much.

The 5 minute rule is great! It helps me with procrastination – I tell myself if I just work on my task for 5 minutes, it’s better than nothing at all (plus I tend to continue for more than the 5 minutes).

I am the same way with small victories and patience. It helps me to take a day or two off of working on goals to spend time doing other things I enjoy, like gardening, hiking, and other non-goal related projects.

I was trying to pick 1 or 2 favorites out of your list but ended with five…… 1,6,7,10,11 – everything you list is so important, people think success can happen overnight be they really need to drill in on all 13 of these points to make long term wins.

I agree that hitting financial goals has hardly anything to do with the money itself. A lot of these points could actually just be applied to any part of life – to be a successful, open person who learns and grows; all of these 13 traits you mentioned have to be a part of who you are.

What an excellent post Amanda! You are so right – mindset is the most important thing. It’s amazing how everything can remain the same except for the way you look at something, and then everything completely is different. This is the whole secret to life, I think! All those people you know who seem to get what they want, or are “lucky” – they understand everything you laid out so beautifully here. That only your own brain can hold you back or move you forward. You can’t accomplish anything if you are not truly committed in your head first. That’s where all the magic happens. And you’re right – if you are never doing anything that is uncomfortable, you are probably not making as much effort as you need to.

Thanks so much, Linda! You are so right – those who are “lucky” have these things figured out and apply them consistently. Love that. And sometimes things happen in life that are simply out of our control, but we can always choose our response. I’m a huge believer in doing the uncomfortable things. In fact, if I’m presented with an opportunity to do something that makes me feel anxious/uncomfortable (the time I was asked to be on TV comes to mind), I know it’s something I have to do. I wish I would have learned this lesson earlier in life.

My favourite is #12: Don’t let mistakes stop you. I used to feel a huge discouragement about ever getting our finances in order because old habits die very hard. As we started our journey out of debt, I found it was true. Old habits didn’t want to die, and lots of “Why did I do that?” mistakes happened. But progress was still being made! Perfection is not a requirement for progress, and I’m very grateful for that fact.

#12 is so important, Ruth! I think we all have the “Why did I do that?” from time to time. Isn’t it interesting that progress is still made even when you mess up now and then? I’ve noticed the same when I look at the big picture. I should have included “perfection is not a requirement” – that’s a great point!

I have to say, just saving for retirement and investing can be rather boring. It was a lot more exciting years ago when we paid down debt – at least we had something to celebrate. We automate all of our investing/saving so we don’t have to stay motivated. We just have to keep things the way they are.

I completely agree, Holly. It is way more exciting to pay down debt. Automating savings and investments works wonders for me, as it keeps me on track each month without a second thought. That said, I LOVE having goals, so I always have to have something (or several things!) to work toward, otherwise I get bored. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by, Michael! Writing down the goals is so important – a step I think many tend to skip. Monitoring progress and adjusting as you go is so important – sometimes it’s like an experiment to see what works and what doesn’t. I like 100% commitment too. It’s what works for me when I have something really difficult I want to accomplish. Thanks again!

Ty is too funny! I need to work on recognizing the small wins for sure right now! Sooo busy and not committing 100% unfortunately. But I plan to get back on track on the long 3 day weekend. Need to stay positive 🙂

I understand, Vicki. Plus, trying to commit 100% to too many things can backfire at times. Sometimes I think I have too many things on my plate, making it hard to give my all to my goals. Staying positive is always the best way to move forward!

Thanks, Ty! I bet you could definitely use your degree for teaching classes; it’s something to look into. Amanda’s Famous Salsa – I love it! 🙂 It is pretty good (my husband and I can eat an whole pint in one sitting!).

Hey Amanda! Great post – I am a big fan of actionable steps and these are perfect for novice to expert…in fact, when I’m at my sisters on Thanksgiving I think I will make this her homepage on her computer!! 😉 The why is so important but the follow through is key. Great points!

All very wise advice! I especially agree with number #2: recognize the excuses. This was a big one for me. It may seem clear in hindsight, but our minds make all kinds of tricky excuses as to why we can’t achieve our goals and we don’t always recognize it.

Great freaking list. What I love about the listing is that it focuses on blending the short aand long term vision needed to successfully reach your money goals. It is just as much about building the habit of consistently savings as it is saving money for a month or so. My favorite goals are the last few, celebrate the short terms successes and hanging in there in the long run because it will be a battle. #2, asking why you need something, will prevent you from the one off spending binge hat may occur when you come across a perceived deal that is “just too good to pas up”

Thanks so much, Bert! 🙂 The short and long term are both so important. It’s hard to look at the long term goals without feeling overwhelmed, which is why the short term goals are so important. One step at a time, one day at a time…will eventually lead to success.